Guinea-Bissau: MEPs reject oil deal with Senegal

Of the 72 delegates in the chamber, 70 rejected the deal, and two resigned as chairman of the National Assembly, an AFP reporter said.

⁇We regret the fact that no member of the Sovereign was aware of this secret agreement. The delegates learned with surprise⁇, APU-PDGB (United People’s Agency – Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau)’s Armando Mango Support announced.

⁇We acted to protect the interests of the country⁇, Said Pamba Panchai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MADEM), the political family of President Embalo.

For his part, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Cipriano Kassama, said he had asked the Prime Minister to provide him with a copy of the agreement he had shared with the delegates.

But Inussa Baldé, executive secretary of the Agency for Management and Cooperation (AGC), ruled out the existence of such an oil exploration agreement.

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⁇Even if there is oil, Senegal or Guinea-Bissau do not know how to explore it, because getting on a project where you can not find enough oil is very expensive.⁇, Balde said during a press conference.

Clarified that ⁇Presidents Embalo and Sal only signed the AGC-related agreement and did not explore oil in the common area.⁇.

Headquartered in Docker, Senegal, the AGC is a framework for facilitating cooperation between the two countries. Created in 1993, it reports directly to the Presidents of the two countries on all developments in the oil and gas sector.

AGC carries out activities related to geological and geophysical studies, drilling operations and petroleum exploration and resources.

Several delegates called for the dissolution of the AGC and the end of the Commonwealth ⁇Each country can exploit its own resources⁇.